News

Hot Topics:

News about NSA should not be big surprise

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
06/10/2013 02:05:22 PM EDT

By Norm Morin

Have you heard the term, "Big Data?" Big Data could also be called a lot of data. Governments and businesses maintain lots of Big Data. The "telephone company" maintains Big Data, and has more information about you than you might guess.

It is illegal to tap someone's phone without a court order. But did you know that your phone conversations might be recorded and archived? A human being doesn't listen to the phone call during the conversation but particular conversations may be extracted from phone-company archives and reviewed with a court order. So if you are planning any illegal activities, don't discuss them over the phone. Or to make things simpler, don't plan illegal activities.

During a CNN interview, Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent stated: "No digital communications are secure," when asked about how the Boston Marathon bombers were neutralized so quickly. He would not divulge specifics but you can be sure that every cellphone and landline conversation is being recorded. Once something is recorded, it can be reviewed at any time in the future and every detail can be scrutinized.

Presidents have been embarrassed by open microphones. An unplanned comment can come back to haunt you. It used to be once something is on the Internet, it is there forever. Now you have to say the same for anything that you say on the phone. Everything that you do and say can be recorded with such easy access to recording devices.

Advertisement

The big news last week was the revelation that the National Security Agency has been acquiring information about telephone and cellphone conversations. This shouldn't be earth-shattering. Don't you see your phone calls documented in your phone bill? It isn't a major stretch to make the assumption this information can be provided to the government.

The technology exists to easily digitize a conversation. There is no need for a big clunky tape recorder. One iPod can record hundreds of hours of audio. The technology is easily available to record conversations. A recorded conversation can be reviewed and analyzed at some future date.

Do we make laws to make it illegal to tap phone calls? Eavesdropping has been going on for years. A law will not stop criminal activity.

A few years ago, when encryption was being implemented in commercial devices, one of the requirements was that the encryption mechanisms be available to the government. That's a comforting thought. It isn't the point that government can "listen," it's the point that the technique is not unbreakable. Someone other than the intended recipient has the "keys."

What is next, brainwave analysis to determine possible threats to our security? It's a brave new world.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.